Dakota Johnson, who plays Ana in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ recently discussed her time working on the erotica series in a recent interview. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she described how working on the film presented her with a certain degree of difficulty and how she rose to the challenge.
The trilogy of novels written by E.L. James and published under the same name has been converted into a film series called “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The first film was released in 2015 and was immediately followed by the second film, titled “Fifty Shades Darker,” in 2017, and the third film, titled “Fifty Shades Freed,” in 2018. Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele, co-stars in the film with Jamie Dornan, who portrays Christian Grey.
The actress conversed with James, who had complete creative control over the movie and reminisced on her experience working with him while filming the series. They also discussed her time working together.
“She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just insisted that certain things happen,” the actress told Vanity Fair of the novelist, who was also one of the film’s producers. “She just demanded that certain things happen,” Johnson added of the author. “There were aspects of the novels that wouldn’t translate well to the big screen, such as the character’s inner monologue, which might sometimes be corny. Saying it out loud won’t do anything. It was a constant uphill struggle. Always.”
The actress needed to rework many of the sequences she was in. “First, we’d film Erika’s parts for the movie she wanted to make, and then we’d film our scenes for the movie we wanted to create. I would rewrite the scenes with the previous dialogue the night before so that I might add a line here or there the next day. It seemed like complete anarchy all the time.”
According to an interview that she gave to Vanity Fair, she said that despite the difficult working conditions on the sets of the films, she has no regrets. “I think there is no cause for remorse in this situation. I don’t believe anybody would have gone through with it if they had realized that’s how it would turn out at the time. It would have seemed to make sense to say something like, “Oh, this is insane.” But no, I don’t regret it.”